Geoff Pender: Longtime senator will have to run a 'real' campaign

11:51 PM,
Dec. 6, 2013

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The last time Republican Sen. Thad Cochran had to wage a serious re-election campaign, "Ghostbusters" was tops at the box office, Madonna was singing "Like a Virgin" and Apple had just unveiled its Macintosh personal computer.

Unlike 1984, when he defeated Democratic former Gov. William Winter, Cochran is part of a fragmented national and state Republican Party. He's got to contend with social media that can level the playing field for an upstart and complaints that he's been in Washington too long. His long, storied record of bringing home the federal bacon to Mississippi is now his cross ...